LivingSocial Moves into Korea with TicketMonster Acquisition

No relation to Ticketmaster, AKA the monster of concert ticket sales.

LivingSocial has announced this morning that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire TicketMonster Inc., a site that it refers to as the “leading social commerce website in South Korea.” Founded just one year ago, TicketMonster offers a number of services including daily deals, instant deals, and travel packages. The site currently serves more than two million members in Korea and Malaysia.

Tim O'Shaughnessy, CEO and co-founder of LivingSocial, sounded quite pleased with the deal. “TicketMonster is one of Korea's most recognized and trusted brands in the nascent daily deal industry, and we are excited to bring them into the LivingSocial family," O'Shaughnessy said in a press release. “TicketMonster and LivingSocial share the same culture of innovation, customer focus and fun, and we believe that the benefits we bring to consumers can be extended to other markets in Asia and around the world.”

Terms of the deal, which is subject to Korean regulatory approval, were not disclosed. If the deal is approved, LivingSocial will then have operations in 23 different countries. Through the previous acquisitions of Ensogo and DealKeren, LivingSocial has already established operations in Asia (including the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia). All of TicketMonster's 600 employees are slated to become part of the LivingSocial team.

"Like LivingSocial, TicketMonster has always focused on providing great values to our members while helping our merchant partners reach new, loyal customers," Daniel Shin, CEO of TicketMonster, said in a press release. "Joining LivingSocial will give TicketMonster the resources, scale and reach to bring our business to the next level across the region while providing even better services for our customers. We believe that this deal will advance the interests of our merchants, our members, and all Korean consumers."

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